Dart is an open-source, scalable programming language, with robust libraries and runtimes, for building web, server, and mobile apps.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Dart 1.1 features up to 25% faster Javascript

Better performance, more features, and improved tools mark the 1.1 release of Dart. Just two months after the 1.0 release, this new release delivers a set of compatible updates that makes applications easier to develop and faster for end users.

Dart’s Javascript output continues to shine. Performance on the Richards benchmark is 25% better than the first release, making runtime comparable to the original JavaScript. Performance of the newest benchmark, FluidMotion, has doubled since November. Dart2js now generates Javascript that performs as well as, if not better than, the idiomatic Javascript equivalent.

While there’s a lot of focus on Dart for browser applications, there is also growing interest in Dart for server solutions. This release provides a number of enhancements for server-side Dart, including support for large files, file copying, process signal handlers, and terminal information. New in this release is support for UDP, which, for example, allows developers to write more efficient media streaming apps.

The Dart Editor has added a number of features to increase productivity. Developers will find improved debugging, better code completion, and more descriptive tooltips. Overall performance of the Editor and the analyzer has also improved.